Amusement devices that use as their underlying theme the fundamentals of the game of basketball are well known. Efforts have been made to add a competitive dimension to such games by pitting two players against each other in such a fashion that a winner and a loser can be can objectively determined. An Example of such a competitive game is U.K. Patent specification 1,404,264 by Hashimoto that was published Aug. 28, 1975. In the Hashimoto reference two replicas of basketball courts are positioned back to back. A scoreboard is positioned at the top of a dividing partition between the two courts. An actuating arm is positioned below each basket. As a ball passes through the basket it strikes the actuating arm resulting in the scoreboard being advanced, such that the relative scores of the players are always displayed during the course of the match. A timing mechanism is provided which governs the duration of the match. The player with the highest score the timed interval is the winner.
The Hashimoto reference, while accomplishing its object of establishing a competitive interest, is relatively expensive to manufacture. Over prolonged use the timing mechanism, the actuating arm and the scoreboard all will fail in the absence of servicing.